List of counties in Oregon
Appearance
(Redirected from List of Oregon county name etymologies)
Counties of Oregon | |
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Location | State of Oregon |
Number | 36 |
Populations | 1,436 (Wheeler) – 789,698 (Multnomah)[1] |
Areas | 435 square miles (1,130 km2) (Multnomah) – 10,135 square miles (26,250 km2) (Harney) |
Government | |
Subdivisions |
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There are 36 counties in the U.S. State of Oregon. The Oregon Constitution does not explicitly provide for county seats; Article VI, covering the "Administrative Department" of the state of Oregon, simply states that:
- All county and city officers shall keep their respective offices at such places therein, and perform such duties, as may be prescribed by law.[2]
More details on the etymologies of Oregon county names and place names in general are documented in Oregon Geographic Names. Oregon's postal abbreviation is OR and its FIPS state code is 41.
County information
[edit]The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.
County |
FIPS code[3] | County seat[4] | Est.[4] | Origin[5] | Etymology[5] | Population[6] | Area[4] | Map |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baker County | 001 | Baker City | 1862 | Eastern portion of Wasco County | Named in honor of Edward Dickinson Baker, who died in combat while serving as Oregon senator. | 16,912 | 3,068 sq mi (7,946 km2) |
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Benton County | 003 | Corvallis | 1847 | Polk County | Named for Thomas Hart Benton, senator and advocate of U.S. annexation of the Oregon Country. | 97,713 | 676 sq mi (1,751 km2) |
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Clackamas County | 005 | Oregon City | 1843 | One of the original four districts of the Oregon Country | Named for the Clackamas people, a local Native American tribe. | 423,173 | 1,868 sq mi (4,838 km2) |
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Clatsop County | 007 | Astoria | 1844 | Northern and western portions of the original Twality District | Named for the Clatsop, a local Native American tribe. | 41,102 | 827 sq mi (2,142 km2) |
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Columbia County | 009 | Saint Helens | 1854 | Northern half of Washington County | Named for the neighboring Columbia River. | 53,880 | 657 sq mi (1,702 km2) |
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Coos County | 011 | Coquille | 1853 | Western parts of Umpqua and Jackson Counties | Named for the Coos people, a regional Native American group. | 64,212 | 1,600 sq mi (4,144 km2) |
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Crook County | 013 | Prineville | 1882 | Southern part of Wasco County | Named for George Crook, a Union army officer in the Civil War and Indian Wars. | 26,952 | 2,980 sq mi (7,718 km2) |
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Curry County | 015 | Gold Beach | 1855 | Coos County | Named for George Law Curry, governor of the Oregon Territory. | 23,296 | 1,627 sq mi (4,214 km2) |
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Deschutes County | 017 | Bend | 1916 | Southern part of Crook County | Named for the Deschutes River from French Riviere des Chutes, 'River of the falls'. | 208,513 | 3,018 sq mi (7,817 km2) |
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Douglas County | 019 | Roseburg | 1852 | Portion of Umpqua County which lay east of the Coast Range summit | Named for senator Stephen A. Douglas, a supporter of Oregon's admission to the union. | 112,435 | 5,037 sq mi (13,046 km2) |
|
Gilliam County | 021 | Condon | 1885 | Eastern third of Wasco County | Named for Oregon pioneer Cornelius Gilliam (1798–1848). | 2,026 | 1,204 sq mi (3,118 km2) |
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Grant County | 023 | Canyon City | 1864 | Parts of old Wasco and old Umatilla counties | Named for Ulysses S. Grant prior to his election as president, in recognition of his military service. | 7,215 | 4,529 sq mi (11,730 km2) |
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Harney County | 025 | Burns | 1889 | Southern two-thirds of Grant County | Named in honor of cavalry officer William S. Harney. | 7,440 | 10,135 sq mi (26,250 km2) |
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Hood River County | 027 | Hood River | 1908 | Northwest portion of Wasco County | Named for the Hood River. | 23,745 | 522 sq mi (1,352 km2) |
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Jackson County | 029 | Medford | 1852 | Southwestern portion of Lane County and unorganized area south of Douglas and Umpqua Counties. | Named for President Andrew Jackson. | 220,768 | 2,785 sq mi (7,213 km2) |
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Jefferson County | 031 | Madras | 1914 | Crook County | Named for the adjacent Mount Jefferson, itself named for President Thomas Jefferson. | 25,454 | 1,781 sq mi (4,613 km2) |
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Josephine County | 033 | Grants Pass | 1856 | Western half of Jackson County | Named for Virginia "Josephine" Rollins, the first female settler in the area. | 87,821 | 1,640 sq mi (4,248 km2) |
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Klamath County | 035 | Klamath Falls | 1882 | Western part of Lake County | Named for the Klamath people, a local Native American tribe. | 70,003 | 5,945 sq mi (15,397 km2) |
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Lake County | 037 | Lakeview | 1874 | Jackson and Wasco Counties | Named for the large number of local lakes and springs. | 8,293 | 7,940 sq mi (20,565 km2) |
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Lane County | 039 | Eugene | 1851 | Southern part of Linn County and the portion of Benton County east of Umpqua County | Named for Joseph Lane, the first governor of the Oregon Territory. | 381,181 | 4,554 sq mi (11,795 km2) |
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Lincoln County | 041 | Newport | 1893 | Western portion of Benton County and Polk County | Named for President Abraham Lincoln. | 50,821 | 980 sq mi (2,538 km2) |
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Linn County | 043 | Albany | 1847 | Southern portion of Champoeg (later Marion) County | Named for Lewis F. Linn, sponsor of the Donation Land Act. | 131,496 | 2,291 sq mi (5,934 km2) |
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Malheur County | 045 | Vale | 1887 | Southern portion of Baker County | Named for the Malheur River, itself from French Riviere au Malheur, 'Unfortunate River', named by French fur trappers whose belongings were stolen along the river. | 32,044 | 9,888 sq mi (25,610 km2) |
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Marion County | 047 | Salem | 1843 | One of the original four districts of the Oregon territory | Named for Francis Marion (1732-1795), a Revolutionary War general. | 346,741 | 1,185 sq mi (3,069 km2) |
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Morrow County | 049 | Heppner | 1885 | Western portion of Umatilla County and a small portion of eastern Wasco County | Named for state representative Jackson L. Morrow, an advocate for the formation of the county. | 12,302 | 2,033 sq mi (5,265 km2) |
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Multnomah County | 051 | Portland | 1854 | Eastern part of Washington and the northern part of Clackamas counties | Named for the Multnomah people, a Chinookan band from Sauvie Island. | 789,698 | 435 sq mi (1,127 km2) |
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Polk County | 053 | Dallas | 1845 | Yamhill District | Named for President James Knox Polk, who was serving during the county's creation. | 89,805 | 741 sq mi (1,919 km2) |
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Sherman County | 055 | Moro | 1889 | Northeast corner of Wasco County | Named for Union general William Tecumseh Sherman. | 1,951 | 823 sq mi (2,132 km2) |
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Tillamook County | 057 | Tillamook | 1853 | Clatsop, Yamhill and Polk Counties | Named for the Tillamook people, a Native American tribe. | 27,417 | 1,102 sq mi (2,854 km2) |
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Umatilla County | 059 | Pendleton | 1862 | Central portion of Wasco County | Named for the adjacent Umatilla River, derived from a Sahaptin, word possibly meaning laughing waters. | 80,053 | 3,215 sq mi (8,327 km2) |
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Union County | 061 | La Grande | 1864 | Baker County | Named for the town of Union, itself named for the Union during the Civil War. | 25,944 | 2,037 sq mi (5,276 km2) |
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Wallowa County | 063 | Enterprise | 1887 | Eastern portion of Union County. | Named after the Nez Perce wallowa, a tripod of poles used to support fish nets. | 7,674 | 3,145 sq mi (8,146 km2) |
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Wasco County | 065 | The Dalles | 1854 | Parts of Clackamas, Lane, Linn and Marion counties | Named for the Wasco people, a Native American tribe. | 26,333 | 2,381 sq mi (6,167 km2) |
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Washington County | 067 | Hillsboro | 1843 | One of the original four districts of the Oregon Country (as Twality District) | Named for president George Washington. | 598,865 | 724 sq mi (1,875 km2) |
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Wheeler County | 069 | Fossil | 1899 | Grant County, Gilliam County, and Crook County | Named for Henry H. Wheeler, an early Oregon mail carrier. | 1,436 | 1,715 sq mi (4,442 km2) |
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Yamhill County | 071 | McMinnville | 1843 | One of the original four districts of the Oregon Country | Named for the Yamhill band of Kalapuya, a local Native American group. | 108,644 | 716 sq mi (1,854 km2) |
See also
[edit]- Umpqua County, Oregon (historic)
- Oregon locations by per capita income
- List of U.S. county secession proposals#Oregon
- Lists of Oregon-related topics
References
[edit]- ^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Multnomah County, Oregon". census.gov.
- ^ "Oregon Secretary of State: Constitution of Oregon". sos.oregon.gov.
- ^ "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
- ^ a b c National Association of Counties. "NACo – Find a county". Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
- ^ a b Oregon State Archives. "County Government". Oregon Blue Book. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Oregon". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
External links
[edit]Wikimedia Commons has media related to Counties of Oregon.
- Historic county boundaries from the Oregon Archives
- Holman, Frederick van Voorhies (March 1910). Oregon Historical Quarterly. .
- Map of counties adjusted for population